<p>^ International schools also typically have much more of an ‘academic’ focus than run-of-the-mill American public schools, because PSes have to take everyone and are FOC while int’l schools generally have students with degree-educated parents who thus emphasize education (especially after paying the hefty fees) etc. And then we have to take into account rampant grade inflation at most PSes; for example my teachers in IB classes almost never give Cs (unless you’re a blooming idiot who not only failed all the tests but also don’t do any of the homework) and this is not the case with SG A Levels which I hear are curved. I go to a Newsweek Top 200 school and definitely worked much less academically compared to when I did as a first-year IP student in Singapore. It’s not like a walk in the park as screwitlah suggests, but I also wouldn’t say it’s more stressful than J2. You still need to do ECs at JC; the top people I know all have at least one ‘big’ club + leadership position (e.g. SYF GWH choir), research attachment, frequently Student Council and sometimes also ‘supplementary’ clubs so the time taken up for those are definitely comparable to the most active US students, many of whom are “involved” in clubs that sound fancy but meet for like an hour a week (guilty as charged).</p>
<p>I’m sorry if I have offended certain sensibilities here, but it would serve your agenda better if you only would read my words better. I did not once suggest that American high schools are a complete walk in the park; I was making a comparison, which you hopefully will understand does not speak to the absolute levels of stress experienced by students in either system. If you insist on perpetuating your initial misunderstanding, then I’m afraid your action would only disproves your point about the quality of American secondary education.</p>
<p>I don’t have any ‘agenda’ and I’m not too happy about the quality of US high schools in general although I would say that “much less stressful” seems to be going too far down considering that AP/IB make up quite some gap <em>if the student works seriously</em> (because the tendency is to compare the ‘standard’ curriculum which frankly is designed for people headed to East Pesco State) and the stress here is different even if academic stress is less, and I doubt that top US EC profiles and top SG EC profiles look <em>that</em> different altogether. I do accept that my “walk in the park” comment was careless and apologise for that.</p>
<p>Agneisse, I think your post is much more reasonable and measured than the previous guy’s. If anything, I should have directed my comment more to him than to you. Sorry :)</p>
<p>I don’t think APs are ‘stressful’! I’m taking Phs C: E&M, Mech, chem, calc BC and stats. But they aren’t likely to take more than 10% of my total study time. Especially the phy part is absolutely idiotic compared to IIT-JEE stuff and probably lower than even ISC standards.</p>
<p>gary7, regarding your question on IIT-JEE I don’t think we can help you with it… Why don’t you try The Indian Thread?</p>
<p>Any1 here can tell me what i should do now? im at a lost 
Should I use my MAY-june SAT results and apply at the end of this year, or apply after my A levels, during my NS or after NS?? Will the university wait for me till after NS if i got accepted before NS??</p>
<p>Berkeley doesn’t hold a place for you, I think.</p>
<p>****, so i can only apply during ns? or can i defer ns?</p>
<p>No, you cannot defer NS unless you are a PSC scholar. If you’re not applying for PSC, you should only apply at the end of your 2nd year of NS, to enrol in time in the September after your NS.</p>
<p>^ yup that’s right… since you’re so interested in studying physics, you can apply for an astar/dsta scholarship after A Levels. which would probably help your berkeley application as well :)</p>
<p>Hey are you all from rj here?</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>Proud Victorian (VJ, not VS) here.</p>
<p>From Chinese High then Hwa Chong here.</p>
<p>Was in NJC IP, but then family moved abroad.</p>
<p>hmmmmm. just wondering if theres any seniors from/still studying in berkeley?</p>
<p>@Agneisse: oh really? then i might know you! </p>
<p>NJ(IP, JC) here :D</p>
<p>^ Ooh, which class were you in? 
(PM if you prefer)</p>
<p>Hi, long absence…
Oh loads, I know many people from Class of 2012 (Right off the bat, I can list three, 1 NJC 1 HCJC 1 RJC)</p>
<p>
The average AP scores for my school is like 4.80 at least, while no school in the USA can come close to that. So I don’t know who you’re kidding if you say that the American HS academic rigor is comparable to the Singaporean HS rigor. </p>
<p>
Pah, SATs don’t matter much. This is coming from a 800M/800CR/760W who was rejected from Wellesley, Princeton, and MIT.</p>
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<p>Actually I don’t think it is that uncommon. Off the bat, I know at least 7-8 people with SAT scores >2300, and in at least 2 instances with single-sitting 2400s.</p>